Rethinking Media Literacy 2025

This type of framework originated during the 1970s in developmental psychology in the work of Urie Bronfenbrenner, who created a model to organize the range of factors that affect an individual child’s development. For example, children might vary in their genetics, talents and experiences, which, in turn, are influenced by their immediate environment (such as their families, peers and schooling), which is influenced by mass media, social services and local politics and which are ultimately influenced by the wider culture. This nested organization acknowledges how the relationships between factors can act to amplify or dampen overall impact. An individual child may have an affinity for mathematics, but if they live in a family or go to a school where that is neither valued nor supported, this affinity may never grow into skill. However, if that same child lives in a culture with television shows that demonstrate the importance of mathematics and treat it as an impressive and desirable skill, or has a relative who plays a similar role, they may indeed find ways to develop in spite of other constraints. The range of factors that affect child development are manifold, but by using a socio-ecological lens it is possible to better organize these relationships and identify where intervention might be fruitful. The same is true for digital safety and the fight to embed, maintain and enhance information integrity. SEMs have since been used in many different contexts to understand and organize influencing factors in complex, interconnected problem areas. In public health, SEMs have helped map intervention landscapes, such as the roles that social and economic conditions, community advocacy, corporate policies, education and individual choice all play in the adoption of healthy behaviours. SEMs have also been used in risk communication to assess the relationships between culture, education and timing in how an individual might best receive the information necessary to make impactful decisions through different channels. Applying this lens to the landscape of counter- disinformation efforts helps establish where current investment is concentrated and where gaps in activity or attention persist. The addition of a timeline axis (the disinformation life cycle) helps illustrate how dynamics evolve throughout the process of creation and consumption. This model helps configure the existing landscape, both for MIL interventions and other whole-of- society approaches to combat disinformation. The levels of the SEM are individual, interpersonal, community, institutional and policy.A socio-ecological model The strength of these models lies in their ability to highlight relationships between influencing factors and how they might work with or against each other. 5 SEMs often begin with the individual as the central focus, emphasizing the range of factors that shape their behaviours, preferences and development. These factors can include inherent abilities, personal affinities, psychological traits and learned skills. In the context of MIL, such considerations play a critical role in shaping how a person interacts with information. This includes the ability to identify and understand and interrogate their own biases and those present in external media, which requires critical thinking skills and awareness of different perspectives. Emotional literacy also forms a significant component, as individuals must navigate how emotions influence their reactions to information, especially when encountering disinformation designed to provoke strong responses. Additionally, platform usage is a key individual concern, as the decision to share or withhold content on digital platforms contributes to the broader dissemination of information. By focusing on these individual elements, it is possible to better design interventions that empower people with the skills necessary to critically engage with media and resist the pull of disinformation.5.1 Individual Rethinking Media Literacy: A New Ecosystem Model for Information Integrity 23